Ex-HBO Chief Quits Latest Job

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN

Published: August 13, 2008

Chris Albrecht, the former chief executive of HBO who helped develop hits like ''The Sopranos'' and ''Sex and the City,'' said on Tuesday that he had stepped down from his role running IMG's media and entertainment business.

Mr. Albrecht joined IMG Global Media, the talent agency owned by Theodore J. Forstmann's private equity firm, Forstmann Little, less than a year ago. The new role had come after Mr. Albrecht was forced to resign from HBO, a unit of Time Warner, after he was arrested and charged with assaulting a girlfriend in Las Vegas.

He was supposed to help Mr. Forstmann turn the agency, which is best known for representing athletes like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, into a media powerhouse. As part of his role, Mr. Albrecht was expected to raise a new investment fund with Mr. Forstmann to buy media and entertainment businesses.

But the timing of the fund could not have been worse; the private equity bubble had burst and the credit market was in free fall. In addition, people close to the firm said that Mr. Forstmann and Mr. Albrecht did not get along.

In a joint statement, the men said that they were ''separating on an amicable basis, regretful that the association was unable to work.''

Mr. Albrecht will return to Foresee Entertainment -- the independent content creation, development and distribution company he formed before joining IMG in 2007 -- to seek business opportunities in the media and entertainment sector.